maybe you were the ocean when i was just a stone
by S.J Carter
Summary: In which Klaus is dumbstruck, Kol has a pretend girlfriend, Rebekah has a knack for makeovers and Hayley is a mermaid, literally. ―-KlausHayley, minor KolHayley, Little Mermaid AU
1. and no man is an island

**notes: **no, your eyes do not deceive you, IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING. I'm writing my first multichaptered klayley fic (aren't you impressed?) And yes, this is the continued version of the _little mermaid au_ I started on tumblr. I was also a little inspired by _H2O: Just Add Water_ (as much I loved Cleo, Ricki was my fave). And everyone who read this on tumblr should actually re-read this, just because I added two entirely new sections (featuring elijah and finn!).

**also: **this fic is probably going to be a little fluffier than my usual angsty style of writing, and there's going to be lots of sibling bonding moments between the originals. Not to mention a lot of Koley/KolHayley (sprinkled here and there, kind of friendshippy, _kind of_). But the main couple is essentially Klayley, I just need to write a build-up. So yeah, enjoy the Koley while you can.

Now, without further ado, on with the show!

**―**

**maybe you were the ocean  
when I was just a stone**

**―**

**―**

**―**

i: and no man is an island

―

She washes up on shore on a cloudless morning.

Her mind memorizes nothing more than warm arms and a firm touch, the strong scent of mint and the taste of liberty, still fresh on her tongue. Having legs for the first time frustrated her, though she hadn't counted on fainting because she's really not used to breathing in the toxic air circling around the landwalkers.

And to think she actually thought that humanity was her calling.

Perhaps, Hayley Marshall should have stuck to her life under the sea.

("Rebekah!" She wakes up to shouting. There is a man standing next to the bed, and he has sand colors hairs and sea colored eyes. He reminds her of home, of oceans blue and the taste of saltwater.

"Sister," he goes on to say, as Rebekah steps inside the bedroom. "Why did you put the unconscious woman in _my_ bed?" He questions, angrily.

Rebekah rolls her eyes at her brother. "Because the guest room is already taken, Nik."

"By whom?"

"Kol is having some lady friend over for dinner.")

Hayley blinks a few times before Rebekah notices that she's awake. "Oh good, you're up." She tells her, as she sits beside her on the bed. "How are you feeling my dear?"

The brunette tries to speak up, but her voice…oh wait that's right, she _sold _it.

"You're mute?" Klaus says, as he also sits beside the mysterious and quiet girl.

Hayley nods her head.

Klaus smiles. "Why don't I get you a pen and paper?"

Hayley smiles back and agrees.

**―**

**―**

**―**

ii: oh this I know

**―**

She sits by the shoreline.

There is a leafless tree hanging over her head as she crinkles her nose at the long and thin branch, tickling her spine. In the meantime, Rebekah sits beside her and gathers the wet sand in her hands. She draws her name in to the sand with a stick.

Then, she hands the stick to Hayley.

_I want to know what your name is, _Rebekah says.

Hayley looks towards the horizon, down to where the skyline meets the edge of the sea. She thinks of the underwater palace she was banished from, a king who rid himself of his own daughter once he found out that his wife had been unfaithful. That she was, indeed, a bastard child.

That same cruel king had given her the name 'Hayley'. So she's not sure if she wants to wear that name, anymore. She doesn't think she needs those cruel memories, the reminder of an exile which was not her fault at all.

Though she does blame herself, nonetheless.

"C'mon," Rebekah insists on, "we can't all keep referring to you as 'little wolf', a name would be really helpful, it might aid us in our search for your family."

Hayley sighs at her little white lie.

How in the hell was she supposed to explain the plain and simple fact that she was, indeed, a mermaid?

**―**

In the distance, there is a man who sits by the rocks, sketchpad in hand and black framed spectacles resting over the bridge of his nose. He draws his sister and the girl whom he has no name for as they lie by the shoreline and write their names in to the sand.

Klaus hurries, fingers smudged in black charcoal, pencil rapidly sliding along the paper and drawing the lines of her dark brown locks. He draws, faster and faster, so he can capture a precise moment.

The moment where she first smiles at him from a distance.

"Brother," Kol interrupts him, "I see you've taken a liking to the stray you found." He says, sitting beside Klaus, observing his drawing of Hayley Marshall.

"She isn't a stray, Kol." Klaus specifies, as he tries his best to ignore his brother's presence.

"Whatever she is, you're still going to have a hard time explaining her presence to mother and father."

Klaus rolls his eyes, at this point. "It will be fine, we'll say she's one of Bekah's friends."

Kol laughs in to his brother's ear. "Bekah doesn't have friends."

Klaus looks onwards, watching as his sister smiles and wraps an arm around her new found companion. "Don't be so sure Kol."

He coughs in to his sleeve. "Fine," Kol says. "Mother might buy that excuse, but father…father will know that she's not from around here. And you know, first hand Nik, that father isn't too friendly around outsiders."

Kol's hand absentmindedly traces the scar running along his brother's arm. The scar his father gave him, back when they were ten and were caught sneaking out of the castle before dawn. Kol pities and loves his older brother to death, he really does.

He wishes that he could ease Klaus's pain, somehow.

"If father asks any questions," Klaus begins to say, "you tell him that the girl is yours."

Kol widens his eyes. "Mine?"

"He'd never let _me _keep a girl overnight, and Rebekah's a terrible liar, Elijah and Finn would never go for any of this…you're our only option."

The dark haired boy quirks a brow as he stares at the nameless girl. "Well," he says, "I suppose she is quite pretty, it's a shame she doesn't speak though."

"Yes," Klaus agrees, it would be easier to communicate with her, after all. "It truly is."

"All right then," Kol smiles, "I guess I'll go along with this little charade of yours, Nik."

**―**

When the sunlight hits her right, there's a certain sparkle in her eyes.

"That's a pretty drawing," Rebekah leans over Klaus's shoulder and stares at his sketchpad. "You should show it to Hayley, I bet she'd like it."

Klaus tilts his head back as he meets his sister's gaze. "Hayley?"

"That's her name," Rebekah teaches him. "Hayley."

**―**

They walk by the sand as Kol explains the plan to her, and Hayley doesn't look too thrilled.

"C'mon darling," he says, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "It'll be fun. Just imagining father's reaction to me being with a peasant girl makes me laugh."

Hayley furrows her brows at Kol's choice of words.

"Sorry," he tells her, "But if you're not a peasant, then where are you from? How did you drown? Isn't your family looking for you?"

If she were to tell him anything, Kol would not believe her at all. It's best to keep lying, Hayley decides, she's not sure that humans are aware of the existence of creatures like her. Her revelation might cause detrimental consequences for her people.

"Right," Kol kicks a rock in to the sea. "I suppose it's none of my business, after all." He runs ahead of her, sand in his hair and sweat beads running down his pale face. "It's getting late, we should get back home."

**―**

Before the evening settles in, Rebekah lends her one of her expensive gowns.

"We need to convince father that you're Kol's girl," the blond haired girl tells her. "Which means that I have to give you a makeover."

Hayley makes a face at the mere suggestion of a 'makeover'.

Rebekah, on the other hand, seemed ever so thrilled. She brings out almost all of her hair products and takes a first full of Hayley's curls. She hisses at the slight tug of her hair.

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Why in the world does your hair smell like saltwater?"

**―**

**―**

**―**

iii: but can't you see, oh

**―**

Lilac is definitely her color.

Definitely?

Since when did he use such a word?

"So Nik," Rebekah sits on the bed and looks towards him. "What do you think?" She raises a blonde brow, teasingly. He sighs at his sister's abilities. She could really see right through his self-proclaimed tough-guise.

Klaus is about to say something witty and annoying.

Of course, all this is before Hayley appears before him. She twirls, lilac ruffles dancing with the winds, and midnight blue jewels adorning her neck. Snow white gloves, made of the finest silks are cozied up against her hands. And glass slippers, clinging and clanging against the tiled floors as she struggles to walk in them.

Klaus nods his head.

Definitely.

Lilac is _definitely_ her color.

_Bonnie, be reasonable, _they hear Kol say, as he sticks his cellphone to his ear while nibbling on a piece of blue cheese. _I told you darling, my family is having a private affair, _he goes on to say. _We can always go for a romp in the sheets next week, sweetheart. _

Rebekah throws him her hairbrush, just so she can get his attention.

"Yes Bonnie, I know you hate it when I'm crude." Kol keeps his attention on his phone, catching the hairbrush and sending his sister a mischievous grin.

Klaus shakes his head at his siblings. He looks towards Hayley as she keeps staring in the mirror, smiling to herself and looking like a giant idiot.

"You act as though you've never seen a gown before," he tells her, leaning over her shoulder.

Hayley offers him a rather shady look. He doesn't know how true his words are. Then, she picks up a pen and a paper.

Klaus squints when she holds the paper up, just so he can see her message. "_It was your idea, wasn't it?_" He reads.

The smirk he offers her is nothing short of wolfish. "What was my idea sweetheart?"

Hayley sighs, exasperated by his motives. _Me pretending to see your brother, _she continues to write, as Klaus actually chuckles.

"Oh c'mon now love," he swings an arm around her shoulder. "Kol's not _so_ bad, is he?"

The brunette looks toward the dark haired boy, casually talking away on his phone and dogging Rebekah's spitballs. Kol catches her gaze and Hayley looks away, almost immediately. She takes her pen, places it against yet another sheet of paper and glares at Klaus.

_He's annoying._

She writes as she hears him snickering behind her.

Hayley sighs, once again.

Maybe Kol wasn't the only annoying one around here.

**―**

_Careful Finn, _Elijah says, as his brother slowly takes the soufflé out of the oven.

"Brother," the older sibling rolls his eyes. "You are aware of the fact that this isn't the first time I've baked soufflé." Finn confirms, placing the hot tray on the counter top. Elijah groans in his presence.

"The last time you made soufflé," he points to the graduation picture, plastered on the wall, "was back when you were eighteen. And we all know that it's been a while since you've been _that_ young, hasn't it brother?"

Unfortunately, Finn is not too amused by Elijah's jab at his age (he's only twenty-nine; heaven knows why it's such a big deal).

"Oh, what's that 'Lijah?" He retorts, mouth pressing in to a thin smirk. "I'm terribly sorry; my hearing's not what it used to be. Did you say that you wanted me to feed this soufflé to Kol?" He shouts, while pressing a hand to his ear.

Elijah covers his brother's loud mouth, rejecting the cheeky remark. They both know all about Kol's appetite, and no dessert was safe around his presence.

Finn breaks out in to a sea of manly giggles (yes, you read that right, these were definite _manly _giggles) when all three of their younger siblings rush down the stairs.

Both older brothers feel the house shake as the footsteps become louder and louder. Elijah and Finn finally smile at one another.

It kind of feels like they're little kids again.

_Is that soufflé I smell? _Kol stammers in, holding the hand of an unidentified brunette. _Oh by the way, this is my new girlfriend, Hayley. _Finn and Elijah both widen their eyes at the young girl's presence.

"Your _girlfriend_?" They exclaim, while Kol happily sniffs the soufflé. It was a definite surprise since the last time Kol had used the word 'girlfriend', he was six. He had also used the word on Rebekah, since she was the only girl who had ever displayed any tolerance towards his childish behavior.

Elijah then decides to open his mouth again. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Kol's older brother, Elijah." He takes his hand out.

Hayley twirls a finger in her hair.

Kol takes her wrist. "Shake his hand darling."

She makes another face, staring at Kol with that same dazed look she almost always has on.

Finn steps in, just in time. "Like this Hayley," he says, as he shakes Elijah's hand. "It's a form of greeting." Finn explains to Hayley.

She smiles, nods her head, and finally shakes Elijah's hand.

He's a little dumbstruck by Kol's new girlfriend. Who in the world didn't know what a handshake was? Then again, she was a mermaid. Although none of the siblings knew _that_.

And just then, the doors of the Mikaelson mansion burst open.

Finn turns around. "Oh," he says, "mother and father are home."

Kol drops his spoonful of soufflé, eyes glinting in the candlelight.

"_Showtime._"

**―**

**notes: **dun dun dun! Next chapter, Hayley gets to meet Esther and Mikael! Hope you're as excited as I am :)


	2. i like to think we had it all

**notes: **Hello folks. Thank you all for the kind responses! This chapter is , again, going to continue to be pretty focused on the bond between all the original siblings. I really want to write something with a good pace. I'm sorry if it seems a little slow, I tend to be a little finicky with the build up. Hope you enjoy this chapter anyway?

Hugs and kisses!

**―**

**maybe you were the ocean  
when I was just a stone**

**―**

**―**

**―**

iv: i like to think

**―**

At supper, everyone is oddly quiet (and quietly odd) as the Mikalsons pass the bowl of peas around the table. Rebekah nonchalantly waves it away, refusing to eat her veggies, even at her age. Kol stares at the peas in disgust and whispers to Hayley that _vegetables are evil_. Klaus doesn't say a word, just smiles when Elijah and Finn start glaring at one another because of their disastrous soufflé.

"So," Esther, their mother, breaks the silence with the cling of her wine glass. She gives the dark haired girl a rather strange look. "_Hayley_, was it?" Esther crooks a brow.

Hayley nervously nods her head.

Kol smiles politely. "That's right mother."

Mikael makes certain that his presence is not ignored. "I'm sure the girl can speak for herself." He tells his son.

"Actually," Kol shrugs, offering Hayley a guilt-filled look, "she really can't."

"Oh," Esther looks at her husband, eyes wide. "I see." She says, "I apologize, I wasn't aware."

Hayley smiles at her, waves both her hands as a sign that she wasn't offended by it all.

Meanwhile, Mikael looks rather suspicious. "Where is your family from?" He asks Hayley. Now, she wouldn't have shrugged if her answer hadn't been something along the lines of _Atlantis: The Lost Empire._

Rebekah decides to step in, just in time. "She's actually here on vacation, isn't that right Hayley?"

The brunette nods her head.

"And how did you two meet?" Finn chimes in.

Kol swallows a lump in his throat. "The…um," he looks to his sister, who mimes something incomprehensible. Klaus mouths the words, because he knows Mikael won't be paying much attention to him. "The Country Club?" Kol asks as Niklaus offers him a nod. "Yes, we met at The Country Club."

Their father actually smiles. "Oh, I suppose you enjoy playing golf." He says to Hayley.

_What was golf? _She thought, as she poked at the strange colored things these humans dared to call 'food'.

Instinctively, Hayley shakes her head. She then catches Klaus' eye. He's staring at her, with a rather questionable smirk plastered on his lips. The entire situation must be incredibly amusing for him, Hayley thinks.

And suddenly, the young girl feels something…or rather, _someone _tickling her feet. Hayley looks under the table and locks eyes with a small boy.

"Henrik?" Kol exclaims, as he reaches for his brother and pulls him out. "How long have you been hiding under the table?"

Henrik tilts his head to one side and smiles politely. "Since supper started," he says, jumping out of his brother's arms. "I was playing pretend," he explains, while dusting off his pants.

The Mikaelsons were, by now, quite accustomed to Henrik's oddness. Although, Hayley had yet to be acquainted with the young boy.

"Kol," he points to Hayley. "Who is this?"

Kol smiles at the pretty girl sitting beside him. "She's my girlfriend, her name is Hayley."

"Girlfriend?" Henrik raises a brow, narrowing his eyes on Hayley as she awkwardly stared at him. "I think I've seen you somewhere before," He absentmindedly mentions. "Have you, per chance, spent some time under the sea?"

He notices how surprised she looks. The mermaid panicked, the last thing she needed was a child who recognized her.

"All right now Henrik," Esther interferes, in the nick of time. "That's enough, stop bothering our guest."

Henrik sighs and sits beside his mother at the dinner table. "Okay mom."

Hayley, worriedly, bit her lip as she wondered how in the world a mere human boy was aware of life under water.

**―**

_And this, _Rebekah says, _is your room._

Hayley almost drops her jaw in shock; the bed looks luxuriously soft, overly large and covered in velvet sheets. There is also a big window to her left, Arabian curtains draping the walls as the light of moon peeks through the parted corners. Black satin rugs, an arm chair and a dark wooden desk, covered in sketch paper and multicolored charcoal.

Rebekah rushes to the table, clearing it out. "Sorry about the mess," she says, "Nik was in here earlier, he was drawing and he _always_ forgets to clean up after himself." She sounds exasperated.

Hayley approaches her new friend, grabbing a couple of drawings and observing them with keen eyes and a soft smile. She points to the drawing and then, points back at Rebekah, mouthing the following words: _is this you?_

The blonde haired girl takes the sketch in to her hands. Her fingers rush over the marks, as her skin is stained in black charcoal, a faint smile pulling at her lips. "I suppose it is." She responds. "I've never seen this sketch of me before, must be new." She folds the paper, placing it into her pocket, as a keepsake.

In the midst of it all, Hayley picks up a pencil. _Rebekah, I need to ask you something, _she writes.

The other girl reads the message over. "Sure darling." She says, pinching Hayley's cheek.

_Why are you helping me?_

Rebekah glares at the question. "You're lost, why wouldn't I help you?"

Hayley shrugs. She picks up her pencil, once again. _Because you don't know me._

She takes a few steps away from her. "You know Hayley," Rebekah looks in to the moonlight, as she speaks. "The last time I had a friend was back when I was eight," she pauses. "So, you can call me naïve, if you want."

Anxiously, Hayley waits for her answer.

"But I want to help you because you need help. That's all there is to it." Rebekah doesn't know how else to explain it.

Hayley hasn't trusted anyone in so long. So it's rather difficult for her, to accept so many people, all at once, willing to help her in her time of need.

"Now get some rest," Rebekah rubs her back, "you've had a long day."

There's a silence, but she thinks she can see Hayley mouthing a thank you just before the door closes shut.

**―**

**―**

**―**

v: we had it all

**―**

That night, Henrik dreams of the sea.

Everything is blue. Blue like his brother's eyes. Niklaus is running along the shoreline, taking in the majestic scenery, as if he has yet to taste freedom…yet to savour the feeling of being wanted. Henrik tries to catch up to him, yells "_Nik! Wait for me!" _and _"Nik, please!"_

But, Klaus has always been a terrible _terrible _listener. And when he jumps into the water and starts to swim away from his brother, he forgets that there's a storm coming.

Henrik's eyes widen in fear. Nik…his brother…he's _drowning. _Oh but Henrik is so young, so fragile, and so very inadequate. So he freezes at the scene. Klaus shouts, reaches out for him, tries to catch his breath as the water rises to his throat.

"_Henrik,_" he rolls around in his sleep. "Wake up," Nik whispers, while he shakes his brother's shoulders.

The young boy's eyes fly open. "Nik?"

Klaus sits on the edge of his brother's bed, looking worried and sad. "You were having a nightmare."

Henrik sighs and smiles fondly. "I've been having these nightmares for a while now. It's nothing new." He tries to close his eyes and fall back asleep.

Klaus protectively places his hand over his little brother's wrist. "Is it the same nightmare? The one about…" His voice then quivers and fades.

Henrik blinks twice before he speaks again. "About that one time you almost drowned?"

The older sibling nods his head.

"And you got saved by a mermaid?"

Klaus laughs at Henrik's wild imagination.

"Why are you laughing? It really happened!"

"Sure it did."

"It did indeed!"

He chuckles, and Henrik crosses his arms around his chest. _Older brothers, _he rolls his eyes, _they're all idiots. _He feels the sheets beside him start to rustle as Klaus surprises him by pulling the covers over his legs. His brother had always shown him the most love and utmost kindness but, when it came to his bedtime, Nik had always preferred to sleep in his own room. Klaus lies next to Henrik and closes his eyes.

"You know it's not your fault." He says.

"What?" Henrik innocently asks.

"You have these nightmares because you blame yourself, do you not?" Klaus questions and Henrik's silence proves to be his answer. "Well Henrik, to be quite honest, you were only four years old when it happened. You couldn't even swim. And it's my fault for going in to the water in such terrible weather conditions."

The young boy nods his head, nuzzles himself in to his brother's warm arms, and finally starts to feel a little more at ease. "Thank you for saying so."

Klaus holds his brother closer. "It's not a problem," he whispers softly, "Now sleep tight."

Henrik shuts his eyes, "Good night Nik."

**―**

**―**

**―**

vi: we drew a map to a better place

**―**

By the time Kol awakens from his overly long beauty sleep, breakfast has already been served and most of the members of his family are headed out the door. Mikael runs to his office, kissing Esther on the cheek as he leaves for work. Rebekah's off to see a boy, some fellow named Matt whom she claims is 'the one'. Klaus and Henrik go out for a walk in the park as Finn and Elijah rush to Kol's side.

"How much longer are you going to sleep?" Elijah asks, looming over his brother with a cake in his hand.

Kol grumbles and asks himself why his brothers are always either baking, carrying or wrecking some type of delicious dessert. "It's not even passed 2 o'clock. Aren't you at all aware of the fact that I need at least 15 hours of sleep, per day?"

Finn snickers at Kol's honest answer while Elijah does nothing but roll his eyes. "Have you forgotten what today is?"

The younger brother looks rather confused. "I don't know. Is it Ground Hog's day?"

"No," Finn releases, "Try again."

"4th of July?"

"We're in October!"

"April Fools?"

"Kol. I've just told you the name of the month we're in; can't you at least try to make a logical guess?"

"Nope, too lazy to think right now, I give up."

Elijah takes out his phone and points to the digital calendar. "It's Halloween, Niklaus' favorite Holiday."

Kol snaps his fingers. "Oh, should have known! So, what's with the cake?"

Finn smiles at his brothers. "We are going to play a prank on him."

Kol shakes his head. "Let me guess," he releases, "you're going to throw the cake in his face?"

"Yes! Isn't it a grand idea? I thought of it myself." Finn proudly tells him. "Now, I don't mean to toot my own horn but, I'd say that it's quite an ingenious prank. Classic but still quite funny, wouldn't you agree Kol?"

The thing about Finn Mikaelson is that he's always been a, quote-and-quote, _mama's boy_. So, the fact that he was actually considering pranking Niklaus on the devilish of all holidays was quite the improvement.

Regardless of this fact, Kol is still unsatisfied with this turn of events. "No, I honestly find it uncreative and rather boring."

"Boring?" Finn exclaims. "Don't be ridiculous! It's not boring. It's fun and exciting!" He then elbows his brother. "Elijah agrees with me."

Meanwhile, Elijah feels a little nervous. "Well, to be quite honest, I am open to Kol's suggestions."

Finn glares at him. "You traitor."

"Now now Finn, don't take this too personally." Elijah defends. "Your ideas are charming, they really are. I just thought we could offer Kol a chance to voice his opinion."

Finn pondered. Traditionally, Kol had always been the most mischievous member of their family. Granted, in the past few Halloweens, Nik and Kol have always planned their pranks together. It would mean a lot, if, for once, Kol joined Elijah and Finn instead. And so, the eldest sibling finally gave in.

"Fine then," Finn acknowledges. "Kol, do you have any tricks up your sleeve?"

Kol smirks, hands folded behind his head as he offers his brother's a small wink. "I have a few." He suggests. "But they'll come at a price."

―

**notes: **err…sorry for the lack of Klayley interactions but, for the sake of a good build up, I hope you will bear with me for a little while longer. I promise to give them scenes real soon. And, in retrospect, I think I made it sort of really obvious that a certain mermaid saved Klaus from drowning when he was younger, so I guess that could count as a Klayley scene? Yes? No? Well anyway, hope you liked this chapter. In the next installment, it's Halloween with the Mikaelsons! So get ready for something quite entertaining!


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